Monday, September 24, 2012

Ok-Go: Tilting at Treadmills

The Tosh.0 marathon

A Quioxitic
approach to Cyclocross training.

Saratoga Springs may be the August place to be. And if you ask your typical
Joey New Jersey walking down Broadway what’s on his mind. The answer for sure
will be the trifecta box in the feature. Or the pick six. What he will not be speculating
upon is how to most efficiently transition between the road cycling season and
begin preparation for fall Cyclocross. Ask your Joe Cyclocross what on his mind in August. The answer:
running.

When I actually listen to people talking to me, they tell
me- “gotta dig out my running shoe and start jogging for ‘cross, ya know, get miles
under the legs, and how many miles, and they are slow..." and then my attention
span ran out so I forget what the rest of crap they told me. Why do admit to
flaking out on my devoted fan-base? Because it doesn’t matter.

During my participation in CycleSmart, Adam Myerson’s
Cyclocross clinic last year, the evening session was an in depth look at 'cross
training. After a good lecture on cycling/power/life/cross, the discussion
opened up to the audience. Now, I’m no stenographer, but I believe it went something
like this:

Misty Cyclocross “What should my 10k run splits be for cross?"Adam “To get faster on your bike, ride your bike more”Dirk Cyclocross “How many deadlifts should I do for cross?Adam “To get faster on your bike, ride your bike more”Bambi Cyclocross “How many yoga sessions should I do for
cross?Adam “To get faster on your bike, ride your bike more”Billy-Ray Cyclocross “How much faster will PX90 make me for
cross?”Adam “To get faster on your bike, ride your bike more” and
this went on for half an hour…

First, Let’s do some math. 6-8 laps per race. Run-up/barriers, about 20 -
40yds. That’s 120 - 480 yards of running. Not miles. From my observation (and
own folly) it is less of a Stephen Kiprotich issue and more of a Lolo Jones
issue. As we must look good clearing barriers.